Personal Statement Draft
Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 11:05 pm
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Five years ago my father gifted me Norton’s Anthology of Poetry. I had been dabbling in poetry at the time and he thought it would be a great source of insight into the art. I doubt he believed it would change my life. Truthfully it wasn’t the book itself, but a poem within by W. H. Auden: “Leap Before You Look.” I’m not an English major, so I can’t tell you the exactly meaning Auden intended to convey with this poem, but I can tell you what it meant to me. I needed to take control of my life.
For eight years immediately after high school I wandered through life, never committed to any single path. Despite the lack of ambition, these weren’t wasted years. My experience as a hotel manager taught me to work effectively within a collaborative setting. My time as a self-employed construction worker taught me the value of self-motivation and hard work. My experience as a father taught me patience and compassion. My experience in failure taught me compromise and humility. Each of these experiences had an immense impact on me, yet none of them were being applied in any meaningful way to my life.
I saw each of the previous experiences as individual events rather than as a series of steps towards a goal. I believed I had great potential, but rather than seek to apply it I passively waiting for that potential to pan out. A rock high on a cliff’s ledge also has great potential energy, but no amount of waiting will convert that potential into reality. It needs to be pushed over the ledge. So did I. I needed to leap. Fantasies of my future wouldn’t come true of their own accord anymore than a rock’s potential energy would spontaneously propel it over a ledge. “Look if you like, but you will have to leap.” I had done enough looking; it was time to leap.
I enrolled in college shortly thereafter without any clear path or vision, but with a clear sense of drive. I wasn’t sure where I was headed, but I was determined to get there with the full force of my potential behind me. I enrolled as a History major, but very quickly I discovered my interests lay in the legal world. For the first two years of my return to college I worked as a housing coordinator for Indianapolis’ Section 8 program. It was there, reviewing rental agreements for compliance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s requirements, that I discovered my passion for the law and how it interacts with our lives. A successful internship with the Indiana House of Representatives furthered my interest in legislation and litigation, an interest nurtured by several incredible adjunct professors who served as my instructors in several law-related courses. The legal field offered an opportunity to turn my love of analysis and problem solving into a career. It gave my blind leap direction.
James A Froude asserted “You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.” For the last two years I have done just that, relentlessly working towards the pursuing my goal of attending law school. Law school isn’t my only dream, though. As I work towards reshaping myself, it isn’t in the mold of a lawyer or legal scholar, but instead, as Auden put it, as one who can “rejoice when no else is there.” By leaping into the unknown I haven’t just given myself a career preference, I’ve created a sense of self and personal accountability with which I have improved the entirety of my life. I’m a better husband, father, son, brother, and friend for it. Four years ago an insecure man took a leap of faith. I have never regretted it since.
Five years ago my father gifted me Norton’s Anthology of Poetry. I had been dabbling in poetry at the time and he thought it would be a great source of insight into the art. I doubt he believed it would change my life. Truthfully it wasn’t the book itself, but a poem within by W. H. Auden: “Leap Before You Look.” I’m not an English major, so I can’t tell you the exactly meaning Auden intended to convey with this poem, but I can tell you what it meant to me. I needed to take control of my life.
For eight years immediately after high school I wandered through life, never committed to any single path. Despite the lack of ambition, these weren’t wasted years. My experience as a hotel manager taught me to work effectively within a collaborative setting. My time as a self-employed construction worker taught me the value of self-motivation and hard work. My experience as a father taught me patience and compassion. My experience in failure taught me compromise and humility. Each of these experiences had an immense impact on me, yet none of them were being applied in any meaningful way to my life.
I saw each of the previous experiences as individual events rather than as a series of steps towards a goal. I believed I had great potential, but rather than seek to apply it I passively waiting for that potential to pan out. A rock high on a cliff’s ledge also has great potential energy, but no amount of waiting will convert that potential into reality. It needs to be pushed over the ledge. So did I. I needed to leap. Fantasies of my future wouldn’t come true of their own accord anymore than a rock’s potential energy would spontaneously propel it over a ledge. “Look if you like, but you will have to leap.” I had done enough looking; it was time to leap.
I enrolled in college shortly thereafter without any clear path or vision, but with a clear sense of drive. I wasn’t sure where I was headed, but I was determined to get there with the full force of my potential behind me. I enrolled as a History major, but very quickly I discovered my interests lay in the legal world. For the first two years of my return to college I worked as a housing coordinator for Indianapolis’ Section 8 program. It was there, reviewing rental agreements for compliance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s requirements, that I discovered my passion for the law and how it interacts with our lives. A successful internship with the Indiana House of Representatives furthered my interest in legislation and litigation, an interest nurtured by several incredible adjunct professors who served as my instructors in several law-related courses. The legal field offered an opportunity to turn my love of analysis and problem solving into a career. It gave my blind leap direction.
James A Froude asserted “You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.” For the last two years I have done just that, relentlessly working towards the pursuing my goal of attending law school. Law school isn’t my only dream, though. As I work towards reshaping myself, it isn’t in the mold of a lawyer or legal scholar, but instead, as Auden put it, as one who can “rejoice when no else is there.” By leaping into the unknown I haven’t just given myself a career preference, I’ve created a sense of self and personal accountability with which I have improved the entirety of my life. I’m a better husband, father, son, brother, and friend for it. Four years ago an insecure man took a leap of faith. I have never regretted it since.